Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
REUTERS: Arab uprisings against unpopular Western-backed rulers have undercut the arguments of some Western intellectuals about passive populations who are not prepared to fight for democracy.
During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, neoconservative cheerleaders for war who had direct access to Western policymakers said force was the only way to take down Arab dictators. A minority of Arab intellectuals agreed with them.
Many writers, especially in the United States, suggested there were characteristics peculiar to the region that could explain why Arabs had not been touched by the democratic wave that toppled East European regimes two decades ago.
Often they cited Islam, or implied there was something wrong in the Arab psyche. Those who suggested more of a focus on U.S. policies and backing for unpopular regimes have had less access to mainstream media and policy makers.
Bernard Lewis, one of the intellectual giants of this trend, wrote in 2005 that "creating a democratic political and social order in Iraq or elsewhere in the region will not be easy," as if "creating" democracy required American tutelage.
The uprisings that removed Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on January 14 and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak four weeks later have shown the people are capable of doing it themselves, even when up against huge odds. >>> Andrew Hammond, Cairo | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom >>> Mark Alexander | Friday, April 20, 2011
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Nach der Niederschlagung der Proteste gegen das Regime in Libyen stellt sich für Politologin Elham Manea eine Frage: Wie lange hält sich der libysche Staatschef Muammar al Gaddafi noch an der Macht? Mit Brutalität gegen Oppositionelle kann Gaddafi sein Ende nur noch hinauszögern.In der libyschen Bevölkerung brodle es schon lange: «Es fehlt den Menschen an einem ganzen Paket von Grundrechten und Demokratie», erklärte die Dozentin am Institut für Politikwissenschaft Zürich zu «tagesschau.sf.tv».
Öl-Geldsegen ist nicht für alle
Ausserdem gebe es eine grosse Zersplitterung in Libyen. Gewisse Regionen profitierten vom Öl-Reichtum des Landes, während dem in andern Teilen nichts von diesem Reichtum zu spüren sei.
In Bengasi, wo in der Nacht zum Mittwoch die Proteste ausgebrochen sind, spüre die Bevölkerung nichts vom Geldsegen aus dem Ölgeschäft. «Gaddafi und seine Elite sind dort verhasst.» >>> Franziska Engelhardt | Mittwoch, 16. Februar 2011
YNET NEWS: Op-ed: Obama in for rude awakening if he thinks groups like Muslim Brotherhood are moderateIn 2008, I had the opportunity to travel to Tunisia and meet with private citizens and public officials to discuss American foreign policy towards the Muslim world. It was fortuitous time to be in a Muslim country. It was during the height of the race for the US presidency and all three candidates, Obama, Clinton and McCain, were still in the running. The direction of where the next US president was on the minds of the local Tunisians as well.
The overwhelming majority of the individuals I spoke to all saw Obama as the best thing that could happen to US-Muslim relations. The locals identified him as the candidate who best understood the Muslim mindset. Furthermore, as far as the Middle East at large is concerned, Tunisia saw itself as a model for moderation and believed that they could export this model to the Middle East. This belief included Israeli-Palestinian relations where Tunisians believed they could play instrumental role in bringing peace.
This somewhat naïve sentiment was something I was willing to entertain, given Tunisian acceptance of its Jewish minority. The Jewish community of Djerba is today unique in a Muslim country. But it is key to stress here that when questioned about what Tunisia is doing to promote these aspects of “moderation,” it was assumed that the global community should “of course” know who and what they stand for. Moderation was defined by moderates, and the reverse. What it really meant in terms of attitudes or behaviors could not be quite specified.
History shows that Tunisian moderation has many sides. Recall for example that after Israel went into Lebanon in 1982, Arafat and his “kitchen cabinet” were evacuated from Beirut and with the help of the US were able to set up shop in Tunis. Sympathy for the PLO and Arafat were great, and in recent decades this has solidified in Tunisia. One of the major roads is named Yasser Arafat Boulevard. >>> Asaf Romirowsky | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
YNET NEWS: Group of 109 Jordanian scholars, clerics also want 'laws that fight all anti-Islamic acts'
Dozens of Muslim scholars are demanding the closure of nightclubs and discotheques in Jordan, saying such entertainment erodes the nation's morals.
Jordan's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, has made such demands in the past. However, Wednesday's call was joined by dozens of independent clergymen, a sign that the idea is becoming more popular in Muslim circles.
The appeal is not binding for Jordan's pro-Western government which says nightclubs and discos are necessary to maintain a flow of foreign tourists, a key source of revenue.
"We demand the government close all nightclubs, which work under the pretext of promoting tourism," 109 clerics, among them a former cabinet minister, MPs, Islamist leaders, university professors and mosque preachers, said in the joint statement.
"We also demand the authorities combat prostitution and brothels, and introduce laws that fight all anti-Islamic and unethical acts which destroy our society," the statement said. >>> News agencies | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
YNET NEWS: 36 Jordanian tribal leaders break silence with unprecedented letter criticizing King Abdullah's wife; accuse her of 'serving own interests, stealing money from treasury', warn of uprising similar to EgyptWill Jordanian Queen Rania Al-Abdullah and her husband be next in line to flee their homeland, as was the case with the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt? In a letter published this week by 36 Jordanian tribal leaders, who represent nearly 40% of the population and play an important role in the kingdom's politics, the Queen was criticized relentlessly.
In the letter, Rania was accused of "corruption, stealing money from the Treasury and manipulating in order to promote her public image – against the Jordanian people's will."
The tribal leaders compared the queen to the wife of former Tunisian president Leila Ben Ali, who stole from her country's treasury for years, giving her family members vast sums of money and land at the expense of the Tunisian citizens.
"We call upon the King to return lands and farms given to the Yassin family (Rania's family). The land belongs to the Jordanian people," they wrote. Such a letter criticizing the royal family can lead to a three year jail sentence in Jordan. >>> Roey Simioni | Monday, February 14, 2011
Related >>>
LE POINT: Le président israélien affirme : "La plus grande corruption politique et morale au monde se trouve aujourd'hui en Iran."
Le régime au pouvoir à Téhéran "sera stoppé par son propre peuple", a affirmé mercredi le président israélien, Shimon Pérès. "La plus grande corruption politique et morale au monde se trouve en Iran aujourd'hui", a déclaré Shimon Pérès devant la conférence annuelle des présidents des principales organisations juives américaines à Jérusalem. "C'est le peuple iranien qui fera tomber ce pouvoir. Ce que l'actuelle direction iranienne fait aujourd'hui est une honte pour l'histoire de ce pays, sa culture et les souffrances de son peuple", a ajouté Shimon Pérès. >>> Le Point.fr | Mercredi 16 Février 2011
LE POINT: Selon le dernier sondage Ipsos/Le Point, 63 % ne souhaitent pas que le chef de l'État se représente en 2012.
Une large majorité de Français (63 %) ne souhaite pas que Nicolas Sarkozy se représente en 2012, contre 34 % qui le souhaitent et 3 % sans opinion, selon un sondage Ipsos pour l'hebdomadaire Le Point à paraître jeudi. Lors d'un précédent sondage réalisé par le même institut en août 2010, ils étaient 62 % à ne pas vouloir que le président de la République brigue un second mandat, contre 35 % qui y étaient favorables (3 % étaient sans opinion). En mars 2010, ce chiffre était de 58 % de personnes défavorables à sa candidature, contre 33 % qui l'appelaient de leurs voeux (9 % sans opinion). >>> Le Point.fr | Mercredi 16 Février 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Agent whose lies about Saddam's weapons capability led to Iraq war has broken German law, says Green MPA German politician has warned that the agent known as Curveball could go to jail after telling the Guardian that he lied about Saddam Hussein's bioweapons capability to "liberate" Iraq.
Green MP Hans-Christian Ströbele said that Curveball, a 43-year-old Iraqi dissident named Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, had arguably violated a German law that makes war-mongering illegal.
He also said that Gerhard Schröder, chancellor of Germany at the start of the Iraq war, should also reveal what he knew about the quality of evidence Curveball gave to Germany's secret service, the BND.
Under section 26 of German constitutional law, it is a criminal offence to do anything "with the intent to disturb the peaceful relations between nations, especially anything that leads to an aggressive war", said Ströbele. >>> Helen Pidd in Berlin | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
CNN: Libyan police clashed with protesters chanting anti-government slogans and demanding the release of a human rights activist early Wednesday, an independent source in the country told CNN.Up to 200 protesters in the coastal city of Benghazi were supporting human rights activist and lawyer Fathi Terbil, who had been detained earlier, the source said.
Several people were arrested after police confronted the protesters, the source added.
However, a highly placed Libyan source close to the government sought to downplay the reports of unrest. The source asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media. >>> Tim Lister, CNN | CNN's Zain Verjee contributed to this report | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Related here
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A female CBS News correspondent is recovering in a US hospital from a sexual attack and beating she suffered while reporting on the tumultuous events in Egypt last week.Lara Logan, who has also worked for GMTV, was in the Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday after Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down when she, her team and their security "were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration," CBS said in a statement.
The network described a mob of more than 200 people "whipped into a frenzy."
Separated from her crew in the crush of the violent pack, she suffered what CBS called "a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating." She was rescued by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers, the network said.
Logan returned to the US on Saturday. >>> | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Egyptian activists condemn brutal attack on CBS reporter in Tahrir Square: Serious assault on Lara Logan of CBS took place in middle of crowd at height of celebrations after Hosni Mubarak resigned >>> Jack Shenker in Cairo | Thursday, February 17, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Hosni Mubarak is suspected of squirrelling away a fortune running into hundreds of millions abroad. Former Cuban president Fidel Castro has backed Egyptians' demand that the cash be clawed back to help alleviate poverty in Egypt
Watch the full episode. See more Secrets of the Dead.
LE POINT: Le dernier dirigeant soviétique, contraint de quitter le pouvoir en 1991, dénonce l'autoritarisme du régime actuel.
Le dernier dirigeant soviétique Mikhaïl Gorbatchev a vertement critiqué, mercredi, une Russie aux élites "dépravées" où la vie politique se résume à une "imitation", disant avoir "honte" de son pays, près de vingt ans après la fin de la perestroïka qu'il avait lancée. Dans un long entretien accordé au journal d'opposition Novaïa Gazeta dont il est l'un des actionnaires, Mikhaïl Gorbatchev, qui fêtera ses 80 ans le 2 mars, a notamment raconté que le chef adjoint de l'administration du Kremlin, Vladislav Sourkov, considéré comme le principal "idéologue" du pouvoir russe, l'a empêché de créer un parti social-démocrate.
"J'avais l'intention avec mes amis de créer un parti. Quand Sourkov l'a appris, il m'a demandé ça vous sert à quoi ? De toute façon, nous n'enregistrerons pas votre parti", a-t-il révélé. "La classe dirigeante se conduit de manière révoltante. Ils sont riches et dépravés. Leur idéal c'est (Roman) Abramovitch", milliardaire, propriétaire du club de football londonien Chelsea, de yachts et de villas luxueuses, estime Mikhaïl Gorbatchev. "J'ai honte de cette riche débauche" >>> Le Point.fr | Mercredi 16 Février 2011
NEWS 24: Moscow - The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, on Wednesday launched a stinging attack on Russia's ruling elite, claiming the Kremlin had banned him from setting up a political party.
In an interview with Novaya Gazeta newspaper ahead of his 80th birthday on March 2, Gorbachev said he wanted to set up a social democratic party but the Kremlin's chief ideologue Vladislav Surkov warned it would not be registered.
"With my friends, I have an idea to set up a party. When Surkov found out, he asked: 'Why do you need this? In any case, we are not going to register your party'," Gorbachev said.
Surkov, Kremlin first deputy chief of staff, is credited with creating the centralised power system that has marked Russia under the rule of Vladimir Putin as well as coining the phrase "sovereign democracy".
"I replied: We will create a movement," Gorbachev said. "And we created it. But a movement is not a party and does not take part in elections. We need to have a social democratic party that does not depend on the authorities."
He accused the ruling class in Russia of showing indifference to its people and also lashed out at billionaire Roman Abramovich who has built up his fortune while staying well away from politics. >>> SAPA | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
LE POINT: La Corée du Nord célèbre, dans la pénurie, le 69e anniversaire de Kim : La Corée du Nord célébrait mercredi le 69e anniversaire de son dirigeant Kim Jong-Il mais, selon un groupe de transfuges, les festivités étaient plus réduites qu'à l'habitude en raison notamment de la pénurie alimentaire chronique. >>> AFP | Mercredi 16 Février 2011
REUTERS: Anti-government protests inspired by popular revolts that toppled rulers in Tunisia and Egypt are gaining pace around the Middle East and North Africa despite political and economic concessions by nervous governments.Clashes were reported for the first time in tightly controlled Libya, sandwiched between Egypt and Tunisia, while new protests erupted in Bahrain, Yemen and Iran on Wednesday.
The latest demonstrations against long-serving rulers came after U.S. President Barack Obama, commenting on the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, declared: "The world is changing...if you are governing these countries, you've got to get out ahead of change, you can't be behind the curve."
With young people able to watch pro-democracy uprisings in other countries on satellite television or the Internet, and to communicate with like-minded activists on social networks hard for the secret police to control, governments across the region have grounds to fear contagion. >>> Paul Taylor | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
DER TAGESSPIEGEL: Verteidigungsminister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU) muss sich gegen Vorwürfe wehren, er habe bei seiner Doktorarbeit getäuscht. Die Dissertation soll an mehreren Stellen "ein dreistes Plagiat" sein.Nach Informationen der "Süddeutschen Zeitung" gibt es in Guttenbergs Doktorarbeit einige Passagen, die wörtlich mit Formulierungen anderer Autoren übereinstimmen, ohne dass er dies gekennzeichnet hat.
Die Dissertation sei an mehreren Stellen "ein dreistes Plagiat" und "eine Täuschung", zitiert das Blatt den Bremer Juraprofessor Andreas Fischer-Lescano, der die Parallelen dem Bericht zufolge bei einer Routineprüfung entdeckt hatte. Fischer-Lescano lehrt an der Universität Bremen Öffentliches Recht, Europa- und Völkerrecht. >>> dpa | Mittwoch, 16. Februar 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: German minister accused of plagiarising thesis: Germany's most popular minister on Wednesday denied he was guilty of plagiarising his doctoral thesis as his former university announced a probe into accusations made in a daily paper. >>> | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
LE FIGARO: PORTRAIT - Après trente ans de règne sans partage, le président égyptien est victime du verrouillage d'un système de pouvoir qu'il avait lui-même mis en place. La révolte du peuple a eu raison de cet autocrate jusque-là intouchable. Hosni Moubarak avait promis à son peuple «une société égalitaire, non une société de privilège». Alors qu'il s'efface de la scène après 30 ans de règne, jamais l'inégalité et les privilèges n'ont été aussi flagrants. La corruption sévit à tous les niveaux, du bakchich obligatoire pour toute démarche administrative au racket organisé par le pouvoir. Le régime règne par la surveillance, la peur et l'humiliation. La torture est banalisée, comme en témoignent des vidéos sur Internet montrant de simples quidams martyrisés dans les commissariats pour avoir simplement rencontré une patrouille de police au mauvais moment. Le système politique est sclérosé, réservant la candidature à l'élection présidentielle au seul candidat du parti au pouvoir.
On a peine à se souvenir que l'intronisation de Hosni Moubarak avait suscité l'espoir des Égyptiens, même si elle était la conséquence d'une catastrophe: l'assassinat d'Anouar el-Sadate, le 6 octobre 1981, par un commando islamiste. La rupture de style fut complète. Ses deux prédécesseurs irradiaient le charme. Les Égyptiens surnommèrent Moubarak «la vache qui rit» à cause de son sourire figé et de sa ressemblance supposée avec l'emblème du fromage fondu, populaire au Proche-Orient. Mais, au fond, le peuple et la classe dirigeante se sentirent rassurés. Après le flamboyant Nasser et l'imprévisible Sadate, qui avait lancé l'Égypte dans la guerre avant de signer la paix à Jérusalem, les Égyptiens étaient fatigués des héros. «Moubarak, c'est “Monsieur Moyen”. L'Égypte avait besoin d'une baisse de régime. Il est arrivé au bon moment», écrivit l'intellectuel Saad el-Dine Ibrahim. >>> Par Pierre Prier | Lundi 14 Février 2011
LE FIGARO: Les étrangers venant travailler au Royaume-Uni avec un salaire annuel de plus de 150.000 livres (près de 180.000 euros) seront exclus des nouveaux quotas migratoires afin de ne pas priver le pays des "meilleurs talents", a annoncé mercredi le gouvernement.
La mesure, qui répond à une demande pressante du monde économique, s'appliquera aux immigrants pouvant justifier d'un contrat de travail, a précisé le secrétaire d'Etat chargé de l'immigration Damian Green. Elle permettra aux avocats, banquiers ou chercheurs étrangers de haut niveau d'échapper aux règles mises en place à compter d'avril pour juguler l'immigration, à condition toutefois que leur casier judicaire dans leur pays d'origine soit vierge. La Grande-Bretagne doit attirer pour son économie "les meilleurs talents et les professionnels les plus brillants", a expliqué M. Green, tout en estimant que "cela ne doit pas se faire au détriment des travailleurs déjà présents". >>> AFP | Mercredi 16 Février 2011
LE MONDE: La police libyenne a dispersé par la force, dans la nuit de mardi 15 à mercredi 16 février, un sit-in contre le pouvoir à Benghazi. Des centaines de partisans du dirigeant libyen, Mouammar Kadhafi, ont, quant à eux, défilé peu après dans plusieurs villes du pays, a-t-on appris de sources concordantes. Au moins quatorze personnes auraient été blessées dans ces affrontements.
Des membres des familles de prisonniers tués en 1996 dans une fusillade dans la prison d'Abou Slim, à Tripoli, se sont rassemblés devant un poste de police à Bengazi pour réclamer la libération de leur coordinateur, l'avocat Fethi Tarbel, a rapporté le journal en ligne Al-Manara. D'après un habitant de la ville, cinq cents à six cents personnes ont manifesté leur colère. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP et Reuters | Mercredi 16 Février 2011
ZEIT ONLINE: Die US-Schulden wachsen dramatisch. Doch Demokraten wie Republikaner schweigen über die notwendigen Sparmaßnahmen, denn 2012 wird gewählt.Sind die USA noch zu retten? Ein Drittel der laufenden Ausgaben kann das Land nur durch Aufnahme neuer Schulden decken. Die Gesamtverschuldung durchbricht gerade die Schallmauer der kompletten Wertschöpfung eines Jahres. 14.300.000.000.000 Dollar. Amiland ist abgebrannt. Es ist das neue Griechenland – nur viel schlimmer.
Erstens sind die USA die größte Volkswirtschaft der Erde, mit weitem Abstand vor der neuen Nummer zwei, China. Zweitens hängt die wichtigste Weltwährung, der Dollar, von der Seriosität amerikanischer Finanzpolitik ab. Drittens war die Finanzkrise nur der Auslöser; die Probleme enden nicht, wenn die Konjunktur anspringt. Die Ursachen sind vielmehr struktureller Natur, auch die US-Bevölkerung altert, die staatlichen Zuschüsse zu den Sicherungssystemen explodieren. Viertens muss die Rettung von innen kommen. Im Fall Griechenlands hatten die Euro-Partner Druckmittel: Sie machten ihre Hilfe abhängig von Athens Selbstdisziplin. Es gibt keine Autorität, die die USA in ähnlicher Weise auf den Pfad der Tugend zurückzwingen kann. >>> Von Christoph von Marschall | Dienstag, 15. Februar 2011
REUTERS: Thousands of Shi'ite demonstrators, inspired by popular revolts that toppled rulers in Tunisia and Egypt, poured into Bahrain's capital on Wednesday to mourn for a second protestor killed in clashes this week.
Several hundred gathered at a funeral procession for a man shot dead when police and mourners clashed at an earlier funeral procession on Tuesday.
"The people demand the fall of the regime!" protesters chanted, with the men pounding their chests, a Shi'ite symbol of sacrifice and anguish.
For the moment, protestors are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa rather than King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, who has the final say in politics.
Sheikh Khalifa, the king's uncle, has governed the Gulf Arab state since its independence in 1971 and is seen as being mostly concerned with keeping the ruling family's grip on politics and the economy. >>> Cynthia Johnston, Manama | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Arrest of human rights activist triggers demonstrations in Libya's second largest cityHundreds of anti-government protesters have clashed with police overnight in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. The protests were reportedly triggered by anger at the arrest of a human rights campaigner.
Meanwhile, Libyan state television said rallies were being held across the country in support of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The online edition of Libya's privately owned Quryna newspaper, which is based in Benghazi, reported that demonstrators had petrol bombs and threw stones. >>> Reuters | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
REUTERS: Riot breaks out in Libyan city of Benghazi: Hundreds of people angry at the arrest of a rights campaigner clashed with police and government supporters overnight in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a witness and local media said. >>> Christian Lowe, Algiers | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
REUTERS: Libya to free 110 Islamist militants from jail >>> Christian Lowe, Tripoli | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi let imagination run wild and became main source for Colin Powell's case for war in 2003
In a small flat in the German town of Erlangen in February 2003, an out-of-work Iraqi sat down with his wife to watch one of the world's most powerful men deliver the speech of his career on live TV.
As US secretary of state, Colin Powell gathered his notes in front of the United Nations security council, the man watching — Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, known to the west's intelligence services as "Curveball" — had more than an inkling of what was to come. He was, after all, Powell's main source, a man his German handlers had feted as a new "Deep throat" — an agent so pivotal that he could bring down a government.
As Curveball watched Powell make the US case to invade Iraq, he was hiding an admission that he has not made until now: that nearly every word he had told his interrogators from Germany's secret service, the BND, was a lie.
Everything he had said about the inner workings of Saddam Hussein's biological weapons programme was a flight of fantasy - one that, he now claims was aimed at ousting the Iraqi dictator. Janabi, a chemical engineering graduate who had worked in the Iraqi industry, says he looked on in shock as Powell's presentation revealed that the Bush administration's hawkish decisionmakers had swallowed the lot. Something else left him even more amazed; until that point he had not met a US official, let alone been interviewed by one.
"I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime," he told the Guardian in a series of interviews carried out in his native Arabic and German. "I and my sons are proud of that, and we are proud that we were the reason to give Iraq the margin of democracy." >>> Martin Chulov and Helen Pidd in Karlsruhe | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Russia and Britain engaged in a war of words over the people power protests across the Middle East as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blasted Western support for demonstrations as counterproductive.Differences between Mr Lavrov and Foreign Secretary William Hague surfaced during a meeting in London designed to display a rapprochement between Whitehall and the Kremlin after years of tension.
Moscow has called for restraint in the face of demonstrations that have shaken long established regimes. Britain and America have, by contrast, demanded that governments bow to the demands of frustrated protesters.
Tunisia and Egypt have seen the departure of their leaders since the demonstrations began and other regimes have been forced into reforms.
With its own record of corruption and authoritarian leaderships, Russia fears the tide of protest will spread to its own backyard.
"I think that we need to encourage all parties to agree between each other," said Mr Lavrov. "I think that it is counterproductive to impose democracy of a specific pattern."
"We have had one revolution in Russia and we don't believe that we need to call for others." >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Michelle Obama is to extend her campaign against childhood obesity by urging women to breastfeed and calling for the removal of barriers to nursing at work.
The Obama administration wants to introduce more flexible work rules and tax breaks on nursing equipment in order to encourage American women to breastfeed.
A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics found that babies who were breastfed for the first four to six months were less likely to be overweight or obese than children who were fed using formula and began eating solid foods before their fourth month.
The move risks fresh controversy for Mrs Obama after she was accused by Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, and others of trying to use government power to dictate private behaviour like eating habits.
Giselle Bundchen *, a famous model, created a furore last year when she declared: "There should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months." >>> Toby Harnden, and Liza Meckler in Washington | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
* Giselle Bundchen must be pretty stupid if she thinks that ALL mothers can successfully breastfeed!
THE GUARDIAN: The $315m sale of the Huffington Post to AOL is a great deal for its founder – but what about the unpaid bloggers who made it a success?
Although Arianna Huffington has achieved worldwide fame as an internet pioneer, her comfort with self-publicity turning her into the face of what may be the future of news websites, she also nurses a lifelong love for therapies that she calls "natural" and others call something else. Fire walking, homeopathy, infrared saunas – Huffington has tried them all over the years, never struggling to balance what some might see as two contrary schools of thought in her head: the hard cutting edge of new media and the fluffy airy-fairiness of New Age.
In her private office – which is almost as glossy as she is, filled with plush armchairs and an intricately carved desk – books by Andrew Weil (an advocate for vitamin supplements who has written numerous books on self healing through breathing, "energy food" and "vibrational sound") sit happily alongside David Remnick's tub thumper tome, The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama. On her desk, bottles of tinctures are placed in front of a photo of her with Queen Rania of Jordan and a handwritten note inviting her to brunch, signed Russell Simmons (whose book Super Rich: A Guide to Having it All is also on Huffington's bookcase, as though she needs any advice on that score.) Even though Christmas was two months ago, particular holiday cards linger on her window sill, including one from Joe Biden and another from a couple whose photo on the front is jarringly familiar: "Seasons greetings," it reads inside. "Tony, Cherie and family."
In short, it is all a testament to how much Huffington's eponymous website – on which features espousing holistic therapies run alongside political pieces about, say, John McCain or Egypt and columns by her celebrity friends, such as Nora Ephron – reflects the personality of its founder. But it's a personality that has puzzled some by its fluidity, "a mind as flexible as her body is unwieldy", as a 2008 profile of Huffington in the New Yorker magazine put it. Huffington has been, at various times, a self-help writer, a political pundit, an antagonist of feminists, a champion of women's causes, a follower of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, the champion of new media, a supporter of Newt Gingrich, a fan of President Obama, a Republican and a Democrat. >>> Hadley Freeman | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)